I shall dispatch by to-day=s
mail a copy of Genl Patterson=s
vindication; which in a former letter I had promised to send.You will see, that the General has sent it in his own name; and, least
you should suppose that I had assumed the liberty of using your name, I will
state the circumstances connected with it.After readg (sic) the copy which my nephew had loaned me, I requested
him to purchase and send me one; as I had no doubt you would be glad to read
it.He suggested, that the Genl
would no doubt give me a copy: and I therefore begged him to ask for one;
telling him, I wished to send it to Genl Lee.This, I presume he did; and in this way, doubtless, it came to be
presented to you by the author.I
make this statement, least you should suspect me of having asked your name
without your authority.

I have never heard any thing
from the friend in Washington to whom I sent a request for Genl McClellan=s
Report of his Campaign in Western Virginia, together with all other reports of
military operations by Federal Officers.Whether he ever received and acted upon my letter, I know not; and am
at a loss to explain his silence.In
order to ensure and answer, and also the dispatch of the Documents to your
address, I enclosed a stamp; requesting him to inform me, what he had paid for
postage.I hope he may have sent
what I requested; and only forgotten to reply to me.

The unusual inclemency of the
winter and the badness of the roads have hindered my attention to another
matter referred to in previous letters- the reputed possession of one of you
pictures by a person in this region.So
soon as I am able, I propose visiting you in the South.

I note with great pleasure that
two subscriptions of $10,000 each have been made to Washington College.May the good cause succeedto
your utmost wishes.I trust that
no portion of your funds will be invested in U. S. Bonds.I feel as if God would Ablow@
upon wealth acquired in a war so wicked as our=s
was; and that he can surely be expected to secure a debt contracted in its
prosecution.The
course pursued and evidently worked out by the party in power is in most
respects saddening enough and yet, in one respect I find some consolation in
it.It is proving to the world,
that resorting to arms to defend their inherited rights the Southern States
were not mistaken in the character and designs of the Republican party.That their Aplatform@
proclaimed was not what the party designed.They are only doing now, what they always asked to do, and what under
some pretext, or other, they would have done, had there been no secession.The democratic party, too, so far as it is basely united in supporting
the war, is beginning to see, that in helping to prostrate the South, it has
sacrificed its own liberties.

I have for the last few months
been much impressed with the importance of the South having a complete system
of Textbooks prepared by Southern men.From
Primer up to College books Southerners should be preparing them; and it has
occurred to me, that your son, Genl Custis, might add to the fame of his
family name by preparing something in his department.I have heard him spoken of as one of rare acquisitions in
branches of military education; and hence, I presume, would be well qualified
to compose treatises on Mathematics in several of its branches.His name would give currency to his books.I long to see every Yankee text book supported by those of indigenous
Southern growth.